Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Tucson Hebrew Academy Visits Kibbutz Zikkim in HA

From Ira Kerem:

On Sunday night, May 31, 10 eighth graders of Tucson Hebrew Academy (THA) were hosted by teens from Kibbutz Zikim in Hof Ashkelon, who study at the Shikma School in Yad Mordechai.

The Americans were met by the Israeli teens who took them on a guided tour of the Kibbutz which included visits to the cowshed, to a hill that overlooks Gaza, and to the petting zoo. They played basketball together and baked pita bread on the "tabun" oven on the campfire.

After a dinner prepared by the mothers of the Israeli students, they went to their host families and returned to sing and just hang out together. In the morning, after tear filled goodbyes, the THA kids departed.

Rabbi Billy repeated his thanks to everyone and was as excited and delighted from the visit as any of the students.

If money is an issue for any group of students who want to visit, you should think about staying even more than one night as guests of the Israelis. Our region is close enough to many sites - Beit Guvrin, beautiful Mediterannean beaches, and only an hour from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv that it can be used as a base to explore a good deal of Israel and also allow for the building of relationships between the Israeli and American kids. Not only that but it can save the Americans money since hotels and food are the major land costs for any visit.

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ISRAEL TIME

A JAFI P2K Partnership

Kiryat Malachi & Hof Ashkelon in ISRAEL, in partnership with TIPS - Tucson, Seattle & Phoenix in the U.S. Working together, to make a difference.

Introduction

TIPS is one of more than 45 partnerships developed by the Jewish Agency for Israel to help world Jewish communities connect to Israel as partners working together and not in the traditional donor-recipient relationship. The Jewish Federations of Tucson, Phoenix, and Seattle form the TIPS partnership, which works with Kiryat Malachi and the rural region of Hof Ashkelon. Several Jewish Federations in California also have a relationship with those two areas through the Western Region Network.

Kiryat Malachi is an immigrant town of about 23,000 people, located an hour’s drive from both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Today more than 25% of the town is from Ethiopia. Hof Ashkelon is a rural district of stretching from just north of the Gaza Strip to south of Ashdod with 13,500 residents in 19 moshavim and kibbutzim and a “temporary” town of Gaza émigrés. The communities closest to Gaza have often been targets of mortars, missiles, and even land attacks.

The Israeli and American members of the joint steering committee decided in 2006 to place the emphasis of their core budget funds on teenagers in order to change the image of the region and to instill in them a pride for their home communities.

The teens themselves created the programs that are now being implemented, which include a first ever regional sports league, a performing arts program in cooperation with the national “happening” - Festival B'Shekel, youth leadership regional clubs, leadership taught through sports, and teen work groups renovating public areas.

The remaining 1/3 of the budget is for exchanges and interaction of people in the 3 US and 2 Israeli communities. Programs include a joint teen trip for the summer of 2009, teen counselor exchanges, an apartment in Kiryat Malachi for Americans volunteering in the town, school e-mail exchanges and visits, and an art contest and a calendar featuring the winning entries.P2K is not just a list of wonderful projects. We work together to help promote the values of volunteerism, accountability, empowerment, cooperation, and mutuality, as well as the creation of lifelong friendships. Members of our communities are invited to participate.